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The next morning the roads were deemed safe enough for travel. Lizzie and her maid, Martin, were once again riding in the opposite seat that Jack was. Things had been rather tense after their shared kiss in the closet. Jack wasn’t certain how to proceed with Lizzie.
In the back of his mind he was reminded of the blasted wager he had made with his father. The last thing he wanted was for Lizzie to feel like he was playing fast and loose with her feelings again. Jack informed the coachman that they would be going back home.
It was only a few days until his family held the annual Valentine’s Day ball. Jack wanted nothing more than to tell the world that he had been an idiot. He wanted to take Lizzie into his arms and shout from the rooftops that she was his and only his. But was she?
He had noticed the few uncertain looks that she had given him. No longer was she glaring at him with raw hostility. Jack figured that this had to be a good sign. But try as he may to engage her in conversation, Lizzie simply wouldn’t play along.
Questions were answered with single syllables and she spent most of the trip hidden behind the pages of the book that he had loaned her. When they finally arrived at her uncle’s home, Mangrove Manor. Jack was feeling very anxious. So many questions were still unanswered.
“Lizzie! Dearest child, do not ever do that again!” Lizzie’s mother Cece came racing out to meet the coach despite the lateness of the hour and without a cloak. A large man with greying hair followed shortly behind carrying a cloak that he promptly wrapped her in.
Cece didn’t even pause for breath. “Do you have any idea how worried we were? And then when those vile boys came home without you...” She broke off as if it was too difficult to even think about the situation. “Well, mark my words, Lizzie, I gave them a piece of my mind.”
Lizzie paled. “You did not hurt them, did you?”
Cece’s lips thinned. “They are a lot faster than they used to be, I will grant you that. If I could have caught them, it would have been much worse.”
The large man turned and wrapped Lizzie in a warm embrace.
“Papa,” she whispered against his sleeve. “I have ruined everything.”
Her father, Charles, pulled back and looked into his daughter’s face. “It was only a little adventure, dearest. I promise you, with something to eat and a little sleep you will be right as rain now that you are home.”
“I hope so,” Lizzie said softly.
Jack stood there wondering if he had somehow become invisible. Not once had Lizzie’s parents even addressed him. Considering that he had grown up in and out of this household it was rather intimidating to become invisible.
The party began to move indoors, but Jack hesitated to follow. It wasn’t until Cece turned and saw him standing there that she addressed him.
“Are you coming in, Jack?”
It wasn’t the warmest of welcomes, but it was an invitation inside. And Jack was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“We have already had supper, but a light tray of meats and cheeses can be arranged.” Cece was transitioning more into her element of hostess. “I will send something to your rooms. Jack, I assume that you will be staying here? I do apologise that I cannot spend more time with you dearest. But we left the guests of the house party playing cards and I would hate for anyone to see you both coming in together.”
Lizzie paled. “Where did you tell the others we were?”
Cece looked at Jack with a shrewd glance. “You have been ill in your room, too sick for company. Ellie corroborated the story, so nobody is the wiser. As for Cavendish, his parents put about a story that he is about the Duke’s business, very hush, hush.”
Jack smiled at the thought of his conversation with his grandfather before he set out to see Lizzie. Hard as it was to believe, at that point, Jack was dreading the notion of a marriage between them.
Now he was chomping at the bit. A niggling thought came to mind. The wager with his father. Now he knew that his father was only trying to show him what was right in front of his face. The perfect woman was right in front of him all this time.
Jack knew that it wouldn’t do to let Lizzie in on the wager. He could see her taking the intentions behind the bet the wrong way. Now that she was warming up to him, he didn’t want to go back to where they started.
After bidding his hosts goodnight, Jack was escorted to his bedchamber. He wasn’t surprised to see his mother there waiting. The Countess of Saxton, or Maddie to her nearest friends, was still a lovely woman with soft curly hair the colour of straw and bright intelligent eyes.
Jack had found through the years that his mother had a sympathetic ear and a kind heart. Immediately he went to her side kissing her cheek and taking her hands in his own.
“I apologise for not coming to see you when I first arrived in York. I had every intention of doing so, but somehow things got all muddled and then I ended up drugged at an inn and Lizzie insisted that I be tied to a chair.”
His mother’s lips twitched in amusement. “Well, it would seem that you have had quite a time of it. Perhaps it would be best if you told me the whole?”
Jack breathed a sigh of relief and told her the entire sordid affair.
“You tricked the girl, got in a carriage accident and ended up hiding in the wardrobe while playing a children’s game?”
Jack was smart enough to omit the kiss. There were some things one didn’t share with their mother.
The Countess laughed, a sound so delightful and carefree that Jack felt himself loosening up even further. He hadn’t known the stress he was carrying in his shoulders until they began to lower and rest in a more natural manner.
“I suppose that it sounds rather fantastic to you?” Jack said sheepishly.
His mother nodded. “Oh, my yes! It brings me back to some of the adventures your father and I had when he was trying to win my hand. It all seems so silly now, but I had it in my head that he could never love me.”
Jack looked incredulous. “Father? Never love you. He dotes on your every word.”
Maddie laughed. “Yes, well, when you are young and uncertain of these new feelings, sometimes it is difficult to make well informed decisions. Things did work themselves out in the end, as I am sure that they will for you and Lizzie.”
Jack could sense that his mother wanted to say more. “You might as well make a clean breast of it. You know the lot; I have my work cut out for me.”
She arched a brow. “I am not certain you quite understand the depths of a woman’s ire when she is wronged. Sometimes one has to make a grand gesture to declare their feelings.”
Jack scoffed. “I kidnapped the girl. What could possibly be grander than that?”
“Did you tell her how you feel?” his mother asked gently. “More to it, do you know how you feel about her?”
Jack met his mother’s gaze. “I love her.”
She nodded. “I can see that you do. The question is—does she know it?”